Seems to me the world is full of empty chairs. How is any given chair supposed to acquire the meaning intended if meaning is intended? And contrariwise, isn't it unfair to all the other chairs that are just hanging around being chairs and not meaning to say anything?

In visual art, horror vacui (/ˈhɔrər ˈvɑːkjuːaɪ/; from Latin "fear of empty space", which might be represented by white spots), also cenophobia (/sɛnəˈfoʊbɪə/, from Greek "fear of the empty"), is the filling of the entire surface of a space or an artwork with detail.

The term is associated with the Italian art critic and scholar Mario Praz, who used it to describe the suffocating atmosphere and clutter of interior design in the Victorian age....

Research suggests there is currently an inverse relationship between horror vacui and value perception, and commercial designers are advised to favour minimalism in shop window displays and advertising to appeal to affluent and well-educated consumers, on the premise that horror vacui appeals more to poorer and less-educated audiences.

Perhaps I'm letting my education and affluence show, but I think empty is good. An unfilled space is complete in itself and yet also an opportunity. I think the horror vacui is somewhat male, and I am speaking from a vagina'd perspective.

Get a clue Ann. The funniest one from Legal Insurrection was the empty suit on the empty chair.

I scoured the southside of Chicago today (around 52nd & Laflin) to find a vacant house with an empty chair as a symbol of our Beloved President's Community Organizing and brilliant grasp of economics. Plenty of vacant houses, just none with a chair in front. And if you have just seen the article from the Daily Caller on BO's legal career sub-prime mortgages were a significant part of it. Would have been great timing.

Get a clue, garage. Labor day is holiday from work, not a holiday for unions. The proud and the free non-unionists celebrate the holiday as well - and you had better believe that we would never celebrate union socialism.

Chairs are meant to be occupied. If any chair anywhere is not taken, someone somewhere has dropped the ball. All empty chairs are symbolic of a broken system. They must be occupied. Empty chairs in the hospital lobby = broken healthcare system. Empty chairs in the schoolhouse = broken school system. Empty chairs at Le Restaurant = broken economy. But if there are more empty chairs than people in the United States, we have a completely broken socio-economic model--a very inefficient distribution of goods, in which there are empty chairs but nobody to occupy them.

The world of empty chairs makes me despondent. I weep for all chairs, filled and unfilled. If only we could function like Kenya, Obama's birthplace, where people sit on the ground and all the world is one All Loving Chair, neither occupied nor unoccupied--but merely existing. It's like The Giving Chair. Panchairism--the chair is all things, and all things the Chair.

Garage's comment on wondering when the last time Republicans rallied for labor on Labor Day made me laugh. It's so illustrative of the Left's absurdity. Only the left would celebrate labor by taking a holiday. And here I am, a Republican, laboring on Labor Day. But I am laboring in a chair. There is an empty chair across the room, though--and for that I weep.

I woke up this morning wondering how many people know the meaning of Labor Day. Anyway, when I looked at the print edition of today's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, I could not find one single reference to the fact that today is Labor Day, except for the comics section (Billy @ Family Circus saying "What kind of presents to we get on Labor Day?" was a real knee-slapper). No editorial about the importance of labor, no sappy acknowledgment of the contributions put in by their staff, no list of Labor Day activities. Absolutely nothing!

Will be fun watching DNC try to come up with something to one-up the empty chair or "you didn't build it" meme. No matter what they do, it will look like a reactive move. Perhaps they will be rearranging the deck chairs.

In my family, all the chairs speak to all the women clearly and demandingly and they obey, the chairs say to the women in my family, "put something on me." And if that doesn't work the chairs say to the women in my family, "think of me as a table, as a desk, as a chest of drawers, as a closet, think of me as a shelf, just please please put something one me. Your coat will do."

When the women in my family visit me they all have a little nervous episode at first at the sight of all those empty flat surfaces yearning to be filled. Chairs all around with nothing at all on them, like a poverty house of something.

Oh, come on, Ann, willful incomprehension is the last defense of the progressive who doesn't want to address the argument.

Shiloh-- would those be the adults who traveled hundred of miles without food, water or money to buy same, and then whinged when no one gave them anything? Or the ones who showed up to nominate a president so drunk they were shipped back to California as soon as they left the hospital?

My sister actually said, "Your tables only have one thing on them. Like the table is for that one thing." A lamp, a boat, a plant, a television, etc.

And I go, come on, there are thirty chia pets on that dresser top and she goes, yeah but they'e all the same thing, one flock.

For them a flat surface is an ache. An ache that must be soothed. For instance, if you have an ironing board and leave it unattended, it will have something on it very fast, like a plate or a scarf or a pair of glasses. That actually happened, and it freaked me right out because it told me that was purposeful.

"And contrariwise, isn't it unfair to all the other chairs that are just hanging around being chairs and not meaning to say anything?"

Reminds me of 'Gay Jeans Day' back in college, when the wearing of jeans (which a majority of students wore on any given day) was supposed to be a signal of support for whatever the pro-gay-people position of the day was back then.

I trudged all the way to the end of my rural/farm driveway to place my worn out old female farm chair and golf clubs. Not sure anyone driving on this rural road would even notice. But, tree falls in woods makes sound? Hits me as yes, so I hear this statement regardless of anyone else.

Hired man, Poppy, 80 yrs old drives in and asks me, "What's with the trail marker Boo?"...man of few words, nails it...the empty chair is a trail marker...America, don not go down that path. Man of so few words, says it perfectly.

I'm a libertarian/conservative and I rally for Labor(of love) Day every day...as I've chosen a profession I love..that Obama et all are ruining in health care. And please, liberals here...do not assign your behavior to us...we do not automatically run to the street when issues arise. We are conservative by nature, as Clint Eastwood said, we play it close to our vest. You cannot count us the same way you count yourselves.

I woke up this morning wondering how many people know the meaning of Labor Day. Anyway, when I looked at the print edition of today's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, I could not find one single reference to the fact that today is Labor Day,

In 1882, Matthew Maguire, a machinist, first proposed the holiday while serving as secretary of the CLU (Central Labor Union) of New York.[1] Others argue that it was first proposed by Peter J. McGuire of the American Federation of Labor in May 1882...

So basically it was originated to celebrate unions. Fuck that, but oh well I'm glad to have the extra day off.

I did not see your vacui edit on the front. I did not notice it. When I commented, I thought, is this even appropriate? Oh well, here goes. Empty chair doesn't mean anything to me. But it sure does to my mother and sisters. You have to remove something from a chair first at their houses, and that's considered normal. Not at all odd to pick up a pile and drop it right down to clear a spot. It's the oddest thing, and it says to me they do not want visitors, but it does not say that to them. At my house you can just plunk right down anywhere on any choice of chair. No sweater, no knitting, no magazines, no mail, no cat, no nuth'n. And here, I insist I am showing my education and, what else am I showing, income, that it, I'm showing those things.

"We claim this moon! Oh the moon, so mysterious and far away. We took it! It's ours! We claim it with a manly jump! And a thump!"

Everyone has always known, through all of time, that the moon is female. So is the earth. So are each of the continents (which is the true answer to why we say America and not Amerigo). Show some respect.

garage - I am going back to work tomorrow to fund your lazy welfare ass.

And don't forget to ask you boss about taking a pay cut. These poor Job Creators have tough enough as it is. Just think how many jobs could be created if Republicans just practiced what they preach? "All these people are overpaid! Cept me." Yeah right.

The Dems need to come back with "Empty Womb Day," a joyous celebration of abortion. However, it would a bit trickier to sit on the front porch and display your empty womb to people - perhaps Lindsey Meadowes could take the lead on this.

Then there's "Empty Head Day" which would honor the intellectual dynamo known as Joe Biden.

I listened to the opening of Clint's speech. One of my favorite lines was about how there are a lot more Reps in Hollywood than you think but they just don't 'hotdog' it the way Dems do. He has that understated way of talking that draws you in, but it wasn't till later that I realized, oh... isn't a primetime speaking engagement at the RNC, with a humongous 3d photo of yourself in cowboy gear and a gun, with whistle music, and then talking to a chair, kind of a little bit, maybe just a tad hotdogging?

Garage's comment on wondering when the last time Republicans rallied for labor on Labor Day made me laugh. It's so illustrative of the Left's absurdity.

Seriously, made me laugh and sigh at the same time. THESE Republicans, myself and husband, who don't know what a vacation day is, much less a "paid" holiday, just got back from driving 50 miles round trip to view several houses that were fire damaged. The fire has swept through and is about 80% contained for now.

Three pump houses burned to the ground. The power poles, lines and electrical components are burnt. The bladder tanks blew up like giant bombs. The people have no water for themselves or for their livestock.

I suppose we could have celebrated Labor Day like Garage and not worked, sat on our asses and told the people to take a hike. Instead we tromped through the ashes and surveyed the situation. Dumbplumber (my hubby's on line persona, just in case someone thinks I'm being disrespectful to my spouse) is now writing up estimates for FEMA and the insurance companies and is on the line with those other nasty captialist pigs, the contractors and electricians, who are also working today and writing estimates. A couple are out of touch because they are also volunteer fire fighters and are on the fire lines as I am typing, trying to save another person's home. On Labor Day.....gasp!!

So.....when Garage says.

I wonder when the last time Republicans rallied for labor, on Labor Day.

My response to Garage and all the other Union lackies....... is a giant fuck you in the ass!!! And I mean it sincerely.

"And contrariwise, isn't it unfair to all the other chairs that are just hanging around being chairs and not meaning to say anything?"

This concern is why I did not participate in Empty Chair Day. I know my chairs are liberal - after all, they don't complain at all when they are sat upon by asses - and it is unfair to make them take part in political demonstations they do not approve of.

New flash: Clint has a new film coming out where he plays a grumpy old man - kind of like that character yelling at the chair last Thursday who turned his 5 minute "endorsement" of Romney into a 12 minute performance and sucked all the air out of Mitt's big moment. Hmmmmm......

Romney - the great manager and business mogul, the man who can "fix" America - gave his big moment away to an actor who knows that there's no such thing as bad publicity in show business.

Mitt got played - Don't believe it? Look at the dismal poll results for his speech. Everyone tuned out after Clint ....

Yeah, Dave, Clint had the whole country laughing at Obama and Biden - but it's a big triumph for your side!

Do you know who was even funnier than Clint? Axelrod delivered high comedy on Fox News Sunday when he stuttered and stammered when asked if Americans are better off now than they were 4 years ago. I enjoyed his performance immensely, although I know that Romney and Ryan must have started shaking in their boots when they saw such political savvy on display.

Ann, my question in the first comment in this thread was serious. When you quoted the article, did it say "infamous" or did it say "rambling"? If Politico changed it without noting the change, isn't that at least bad blogging form?

AFSCME President Lee Saunders, capping off a fiery speech to the Wisconsin delegation Monday morning, held a conversation with an invisible Eastwood.

An empty chair had been brought on stage before Saunders started speaking, but he ignored it for most of his speech.

“I don’t know if you noticed, but you see this chair? I don’t know if you noticed that he actually walked in with me. He’s invisible, he’s sitting right here. He’s been listening to everything I had to say,” Saunders said. “So I want you to welcome Clint Eastwood.”

“I’ve got a couple of questions. I’ve got a couple of questions I want to ask Clint Eastwood,” Saunders continued as dozens of attendees cracked up. “But first, buddy, what do you have to say for yourself? I didn’t hear you.”

“Clint’s been sitting here for the past hour. He doesn’t have anything to say for himself. Mitt Romney has nothing to say for himself. Paul Ryan has nothing to say for himself,” he said. “We’ve got to make our voices heard. We’ve got to speak loud and clear. If we do that, we will win in November.”

My father was and still is a strong union man—in his mid 80s. I used to march with him and his local of the United Paper Workers on Labor day. He was a millwright at Gulf States Paper. At one time they made the majority of the grocery bags in the US. If you ever saw a brown grocery bag with a green tree printed on the bottom, that was one of the ones my dad helped make. When the Union went on strike when the company was on the ropes, he blamed it on the 'hotheads', not the union. The plant shut down and he lost not only his job after 27 years, but his promised pension went from a percentage of pay to about $120 a month. He is still a Democrat. He does not understand that the 'hotheads' have taken over.

"...who turned his 5 minute "endorsement" of Romney into a 12 minute performance and sucked all the air out of Mitt's big moment. Hmmmmm......"

See, this is what I don't get.

Look at what is implied by this statement. I think that Democrats (or liberals or whatever) are profoundly disappointed when we don't CARE, those of us who are Republican or conservative or just libertarian, that we don't care about Romney's big moment. OH EM GEE. Seriously?

Sly snicker snicker, Romney was upstaged?

No one made a huge sand sculpture of Romney either. At least I don't *think* anyone did. Now that's something I'd find profoundly embarrassing. Like a calendar of Putin with lip glitter or something. Yet another effigy of Dear Leader.

Maybe it's the difference between the horror vacui thing and being comfortable without a ruler.

Going "neener neener" your ruler isn't as grand and wonderful as our ruler, didn't even get a sand statue, got upstaged by an old dude acting even older and an empty chair... sort of assumes that the other side suffers from horror vacui too.

Libs are big on the Cult of Personality, as that asinine sand sculpture in Charlotte demonstrates. Because they see Obama in the same light 12 year old girls view Justin Beiber, when they notice that conservatives are not doing the same with Romney, they think "Fail."

Er, no. It's treating a politican like a politican, and not like some Miracle Worker who can magically defy the laws of mathematics.

Sad Irony #1:If this post is to be believed, no one on the right is celebrating labor.

Sad Irony #2: Kentucky Liz never learned any local history in school. Otherwise, she'd know about those who came before her who were killed, starved, assaulted and maimed so that she could enjoy a safe workplace and living wage.

“Perhaps I'm letting my education and affluence show, but I think empty is good.”Of course. Your mistakes would be based on an excess of virtue, instead of, say, lack of a sense of humor or narcissism. Certainly, it could not be the virtue of missing the point.It was a hell of an idea. The people who started it are brilliant. But, for you, empty could be good, not that there’s anything wrong with it.

"Someone is "infamous" if they have done something criminal or immoral that has gained a great deal of public notice."

Also meaning shameful but I've noticed in the last few years that a lot of younger people including educated people saying "infamous" when they mean to say famous. See an example below...

"President Franklin D. Roosevelt: Yesterday, December 7, 1941—a date which will live in infamy—the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan."

"Eventually Burton offered a classic 21st century non-apology for his smear:"

After the Obama campaign and others distanced themselves, and Republicans pounced, Burton issued this statement: “To correct press reports of my recent comments about Republican lies, I did not call Republicans Nazis nor would I ever. In fact, I didn’t even use the word…If Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan, or the Republicans are insulted by my describing their campaign tactic as the big lie – I most humbly apologize to them or anyone who might have been offended by that comment.”"

I'm sure she was similiarly outraged when Maher called Palin a cunt, when Letterman joked about Palin's underaged daughter getting raped, and when that American Pie dolt (whose name already escapes me) tweeted sexual jokes about Ann Romney and Janna Ryan.

You see, that's not "mean-spiritedness." That's just good-hearted liberal fun!

In comparison, Clint's jibes were pretty mild. Well, unless you're leslyn and can't bear to see The Precious mocked.

"exiledonmainst said...Yeah, Dave, Clint had the whole country laughing at Obama and Biden - but it's a big triumph for your side!"

The WHOLE country wasn't watching. And of those who were - a significant percentage were offended by the implied profanity (my personal objection), others noted that Clint's "pox on both your houses" references to Afghanistan and electing a lawyer to the presidency as being less than helpful to Mitt. The Grandpa Simpson "Old man yells at chair" image went viral - and Clint (not Mitt) was the center of attention.

Since you didn't understand my post (perhaps I wasn't clear - sorry) - I'll try again. The "big triumph" was Clint's - not Dems or Repubs - the guy who makes money my making movies promoted himself. Everyone is talking about Clint - and now the ads for his movie are on TV - and soon he'll be on talk shows, etc. promoting it to people who have been primed by all this chatter about him. Clint - Mitt "made his day"!

"UPDATE: One more crazy phenomenon in Charlotte: Many of the Democrats in the media are trying to follow the Obama administration’s lead by referring to Bank of America stadium as Panthers’ Stadium, because–I guess–the Democrats don’t want to be associated with banks. But Bank of America Stadium is NOT called Panthers’ Stadium, just as, to take only one example, the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome is not called Vikings Stadium. The willingness of supposedly independent reporters to ignore reality in hopes of being of service to Obama is comical and, some would say, crazy."

“They lie and they don’t care if people think they lie,” Chairman of the California Democratic Party John Burton told KCBS Monday in Charlotte. “As long as you lie, Joseph Goebbels, the big lie, you keep repeating it, you know.”

Dave, why would the line about not electing a lawyer to the presidency be less than helpful to Mitt? Although Romney earned his JD, he is known as a businessman, not a lawyer. In fact, did he ever actually practice law? Obama and Biden are lawyers.

No, the whole country wasn't watching - at the time. Many watched the next day and the day after that, because the MSM raised such a fuss about it.

And you're the one who is missing the point: everyone is talking about Clint mocking Obama and Biden. He dared to make fun of The Emperor with No Clothes and the Obama adminstration made things worse by sending out that stupid tweet, which only shows that King Putt is as thin-skinned and humorless as his devoted fan club.

But really, go on telling yourself that Clint scored a victory for Obama. I'm sure Barack was saying that same thing when he watched Eastwood make fun of him. That's why you're all completely ignoring it.

"Someone called Mike Elk, who is described as a labor journalist, tweeted, “Eastwood chair rant was RACIST, white man putting dirty words into mouth of black man like a puppet.”

And a blog on the left-wing Think Progess Web site weighed in with this: “You can’t escape the racial subtext of what happened last night. Eastwood scolded an (imaginary) black man for his perceived slights to the American way in front of an audience of millions, and a sea of mostly white faces laughed and egged him on.”"

Oh, and Dave, yes, Clint will be on talk shows promoting his movie - which will also give him a chance to elaborate on why he thinks Obama is a failure. A few more zingers about Barry and Slow Joe are in the works, don't you think?

Remember the woman-homemaker witticism about men-at-work signs: "Women work all day every day. Men do it so infrequently they need to put up signs."

Reminds of of the Big Labor being so enchanted with their 9-5 M-F work that they need a day to celebrate it, meanwhile dairy farmers and millions of others entrepreneurs just keep putting in the 24/7 required to keep this country running.

Lessen, I am a union member and former union steward. My work with my union has made a big difference in my workplace. I got hard and soft benefits and non-discrimination anti-harassment policies for gay employees.

Again - now read carefully - I didn't say it was a "victory" for Obama. I said Clint was being self-serving. Creating interest in Clint rather than in Mitt. For example, the comment about Afghanistan being a mistake is a criticism of both parties - and since Romney like Obama graduated Harvard Law, saying it's not a great idea to elect lawyers isn't helpful to Mitt. Also, news reports say that he was scheduled to speak for 5 minutes. He went way over time - the red light was flashing - and the convention only had 60 minutes coverage on the "major" networks. They wanted him to use 1/12 of the time. He used up 1/5 of it. Time is money - big money on television. I don't know if it will help or hurt Romney in the long run. But I still say the big winner was Clint. He "took the focus" and ran with it.

Dave: reread my comment at 8:19. Yes, it was self-serving of Clint and yes, it provides publicity for his new movie. That does not cancel out the fact that it also helped Romney. What sticks is not the criticism of Afghanistan (and once again, is Romney perceived as a lawyer or a businessman? How many people even know he has a JD?) but the mockery of Obama and Biden.